Thursday, July 06, 2017

Anime fans' hard streaming choices

The unusual deal is seen by industry experts as a sign that anime distributors won’t be able to survive alone against Amazon and Netflix.

CrunchyRoll, based in San Francisco, is the most popular dedicated anime streaming service in the U.S., according to a 2016 ranking by Parks Associates, a market research firm. The platform even ranks in the top 10 overall subscription services, just below HBO Now and ahead of Showtime.

“There’s no question that consumption is changing,” said Colin Decker, chief operating officer at CrunchyRoll. The company differentiates itself by building online fan communities and hosting its own anime convention — initiatives that bigger streaming companies don’t do.